♪♪ [trumpet] ♪♪ >> brennan: i'm margaret brennan in washington. and this holiday weekend on "face the nation." russia responds to the ukrainians sinking a key battleship with a powerful barage of missile fire in the west, while president zelenskyy says the situation in mariupol is as severe as possible just inhumane. we'll talk with dimitri, and get analysis from the former commander of the u.s. army in europe, ben rogers. plus, delaware democratic senator chris coons will be here to talk about his fight to get more covid aid included in a relief

bill that is stalled in congress. and what impact will the war in ukraine have on the world's food supply. we'll talk with the head of the united nations world food program, david beasley, and take a look at yet another jump in the inflation rate here in the u.s. will our food and gas prices go even higher? it's all just ahead on "face the nation." good morning and welcome to "face the nation." on a day when we're honoring the holy holidays of easter, pasover, and ramadan, it is difficult to come to grips with the bleak news this morning. overnight, there have been mass shootings at a shopping mall in columbia, south carolina, and at a party in east allegheny, part of pittsburgh. in jerusalem, there were more clashes at the temple mount between israeli

police and palestinian protestors. in north korea, pictures released showed kim jong-un celebrating what appears to be the successful test fire of a tactical-guided weapon. in the first outdoor mass since the pandemic began, pope francis said the world is marking an easter of war and he urged peace. we begin, as we always do, with the news. but we do hope you'll stay with us through our second half hour, when we focus on some of the efforts being made to help those who are suffering all around the world. our chris livesay is up first reporting from kyiv. >> reporter: good morning. as vladimir putin refocuses his land war on the east, the russian president is reminding us he can still strike ukraine wherever he wants by air. russia has increased missile strikes here in the capital and continues to pound major cities on the front lines.

the kyiv region now a graveyard. the bodies of more than 900 civilians have been found in and around the capital, police say. the killing continues at kharkiv, where overnight shelling killed seven people, including a seven-month-old. ukraine's local authorities say, but nowhere is the misery more total an mariupol. thousands have been killed in weeks of airstrikes, artillery, and even starvation. russia now claims victory. if true, we may never know the full-scale of horror. but ch chernhiv offers a look. cut off from food and water for weeks, until ukrainian forces, dramatically outgunned, pushed them back. shooting down this bomber, it crashed into his house,

killing one man inside. but shockingly, no more. te pay load is failing to detonate on impact. landing on nikolah's doorstep. >> i was sitting and praying, when all of a sudden there was a huge boom in flames. two pilots ejected. one survived. and not just anyone. here he is posing with vladimir putin and bashar al-assad, the president of syria, where the aid carried out airstrikes. soon after russia pulled back its forces from ch chchernikiv. though not without a devastating cost to ukraine. there is an unprecedented look at war. never before have events in battle been so closely documented, thanks to cell

phone footage, and a local population that is incredibly tech savvy. margaret? >> brennan: chris livesay, thank you. we go to the foreign minister of ukraine. minister, welcome back to the program. mariupol's governor says the city has been wiped off the face of the earth. how long can ukrainian forces resist russian control of that city? >> the situation in mariupol is both dire, militarily, and heartbreaking. this the citylí doesn't exist anymore. the remainings of the ukrainian army and large group of civilians are basically encircled by the russian forces. they continue their struggle. but it seems from the way the russian army behaves in mariupol, they decided to erase the city to the ground at any cost. >> brennan: president zelenskyy said the

elimination of military forces in that city will mean an end to all negotiations with russia. have you been instructed to stop contact with russia diplomats? >> well, we didn't really have any contact with russian diplomats in recent weeks at the level of foreign ministries. the only level of contact is the negotiating team that consistent of representatives of various institutions and members of parliament. they continue their consultations at the expert level. but bullsa, it became difficult talking with the russians. but as my president mentioned, mariupol may be a red line. >> brennan: the general staff of the armed forces of ukraine said last month that russian soldiers were being told the war must end by may the 9th.

what exactly are you expecting in the coming weeks? >> anticipation of heavy fighting in eastern ukraine, in donbas. large-scale offensive of russia in that part of ukraine, and also desperate attempts of the russian forces, as i said, to finish with mariupol at any cost. this is my expectation. and, of course, missile attacks on kyiv and other cities across ukraine seem to continue. >> brennan: this past week president zelenskyy released images of the una oligarch with close ties to vladimir putin, saying that ukrainian forces that captured him. he had been involved in a platplot to take over your government. what do you intend to do with him to aid in that capture. >> he is a citizen of

ukraine, so he will enjoy all season nal rights because we're a country of the rule of law. and his future will be decided on the one hand by the legal process and on the other hand, the political process. as i said, we're a country of the rule of law, and first and foremost he will face responsibility for the crimes he committed against ukraine. >> brennan: what exactly was he involved with here? how much contact did he have with russia? and what do you mean political solution? >> well, he was extremely close to president putin. in fact, vladimir putin is said to be the godfather of one of the daughters of mr. medvechoc. i believe this fact speaks for itself. when i mentioned political solutions, you know that the spokesperson to

president putin, mr. pascal, said that russia has no interest in exchanging mr. medvechoc, but we'll see how the situation evolves. >> brennan: the white house says president biden will not visit ukraine. a lot of other world leaders have done so. is it important to you to see a high-level u.s. official come? is it important for the americans to reopen the embassy in ukraine? >> since the beginning of the new wave of russia's aggression against ukraine, president biden has demonstrated true leadership in helping providing assistance to ukraine in mobilizing the international community to support ukraine, so, of course, we would be happy to see him in our country, and it would be an important message of support to us. and, of course, a personal meeting between two presidents could also pave

the way for new supplies of weapons, of american u.s. weapons to ukraine, and also for discussions on the possible political settlement of this conflict. >> brennan: well, we'll see if any officials are sent. i do want to ask you about a report that came out this week. 45 different countries who are part of the o.f.c. e., the organization for security and corruption in europe, had this investigation into war crimes. it mainly faulted russia. but it also faulted ukraine, once the soldier haent using facial tech until. according to this report, ukraine is apparently sending this report to the families of the dead. is that accurate?

>> as it was mentioned, when you discover 900 bodies of civilians killed, tortured, when you know that thousands were raped, of course, there is a people's rage and people's desire to bring those responsible for that to account. and we, as the government, work on legal ways to bring those responsible for these crimes to responsibility. >> brennan: it also said ukraine has not permitted the red cross to visit prisoners of war. will ukraine commit to doing so and to investigate war crimes by its own nationals if you find that some have been committed? >> well, i have good reason to complain on the way the red cross rolled out its operations in ukraine since the beginning of the war, and on the visit of the president of the red cross to moscow and the way it was handled. but i don't do it because we have a good working

relationship with red cross, and we sort out all issues at the working level in the spirit of cooperation. >> brennan: all right, mr. foreign minister, thank you for joining us today. we go now to lieutenant general ben hodges, the former commanding general of the u.s. army in europe, and he joins us from frankfurt, germany. good morning to you. >> good morning, margaret. >> brennan: you heard the foreign minister what wa happening in the southeast port city of mariupol. many believe vladimir putin will intensify this assault leading up to may 9th. what do you expect to see? >> i agree with all that i just heard the minister say in what has been going on in mariupol, the incredible courage and resilience and the courage, as well as from the soldiers that have been fighting. but i do think that the pressure on the general

staff to deliver mariupol ahead of 9 may is immense. that is the celebration of russia for the end of world war ii. it is a huge parade in red square every year, so obviously they need to have something to parade, to show as a victory on 9 may. so i think this date does have importance there. >> brennan: well, you describe a new offensive as a whole new war now. what do you mean by that? >> well, what we saw in the last seven weeks, of course, was a mishandled effort by russia. they totally overestimated their ability. they were not prepared for the fight they entered. ukrainians defeated them at every turn. so, of course, russia now has withdrawn from most places and they're focusing on the donbas region. and interestingly, the general staff has decided not to mobilize all of their reservists, which tells me there is not

going to be a phase three. what we're going to do now for the next few weeks is phase two, and they're going to focus on trying to gain control of all of donbas. and i think that is going to be it for the rest of the year because they don't have the capability, i don't believe -- especially if they don't mobilize reserves -- to continue the fight after this. >> brennan: does that mean the fight could be wrapped by the 9th of may? >> no. it means that they will not have the ability to conduct any further offensive operations after this. >> brennan: okay. >> for sure the fighting is going to continue. thy're going to continue as long as they have missiles, murdering innocent ukrainian civilians, and putting pressure on ukraine, but my sense is they have made a decision, because of the pounding they have taken, and the lack of resources -- frankly, they can't even build new tanks because the sanctions are restricting the types of parts that they have to bring in for new equipment -- ty really are culminating in

their ability to launch further offensive operations, particularly towards odessa or kyiv. i don't see them having the potential for that this year. >> brennan: president biden authorized new weapons transfers. we know now that some of them have been arriving just over this past weekend. in this new package, artillery, 18 medium range howitzers, arm moderna armored personnel carriers, how long does this weaponry last and how significant is it to the fight? >> the howitzers are particularly important, and the 40,000 rounds of ammunition. this is substantial, high-quality weapons system. but i have to say, it is still not enough. what the ukrainians need desperately are long-range

fires, rockets, artillery, drones, that can disrupt or destroy the systems that are causing so much damage in the ukrainian cities, and it will also play a critical role in this next phase if and when it begins. the hundreds of switch-blade drones, for example, these are very good, but we need about a thousand more. if you assume one drone per tank, per artillery system, per infantry fighting vehicle, you can see why the numbers -- this is about us being the arsenal of democracy. this is about us supporting democracy versus autocracy. i would really like to hear the administration talk about winning and having a sense of urgency on getting these things like, otherwise this window of opportunity we have, the next couple of weeks to really disrupt russia's attempt to build up, is going to pass. >> brennan: well, we hear from the administration is that the aim of all of this is to strengthen ukraine's hand

at the negotiating table. but we've heard from the ukrainians, there is no table to sit at right now. are you saying it doesn't look to you like the administration has decided they want ukraine to win? they just want a stalemate? >> i would say that i don't hear the administration talking about winning. i'm reluctant to say that the administration doesn't want them to win, but what needs to be stated is what is our objective? the united states? we're nott( cheering for ukraine here. this is about democracy across europe and stopping an autocracy. and, of course, the chinese are watching. so there are implications well beyond mariupol or even kyiv. and so if the united states were to say, we want to win, that means all russian forces back to pre- 24 february, and all ukrainians who have been deported are all back home immediately. a commitment to the full

restoration to ukrainian sovereignty, and that means crimea and donbas. and they can threaten georgia, to threaten mal maldova. >> brennan: thank you. happy easter. "face the nation" will be back in a minute. stay with us. digital tools so impressive, you just can't stop. what would you like the power to do? can a company make the planet a better place? what if it's a company that's pursuing 100% renewable energy in our operations. and aiming to protect millions of acres of land. so we can all live better. frank is a fan of fast. he's a fast talker. a fast walker. thanks, gary. and for unexpected heartburn... frank is a fan of pepcid. it works in minutes. nexium 24 hour and prilosec otc can take one to four days to fully work.

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and trucks, up 35%. gas, up 48%. >> connecticut families are getting slammed by inflation. especially at the pump. >> reporter: among major cities, atlanta has seen america's second highest rate of inflation year to year, 10.6%, behind only phoenix and just barely. biggest factors: housing costs and energy prices. blame supply chain issues, trucks waiting up to 30 hours to cross from mexico into texas. wal-mart offered new truckers up to $110,000 in their first year, more than double the national average. ukraine's crisis, it's impact on energy prices, and our pandemic economy. it went from deep freeze to red-hot and needs relief. >> the fed is telling us it is not going to be this year. it is probably going to be the end of next year. >> reporter: an inflation forecast that

leaves many restaurants shaken. inflation eats up their thin profit margins. >> restaurants have had to raise prices by at least 10%. >> reporter: karen bremmer leads georgia's restaurant's association. >> i think we could lose another 3,000 restaurants, probably. >> reporter: because? >> because people are just stretched to the max right now. >> reporter: all eyes turn now to the fed, which uses interest rates to achieve two goals: one is full employment. >> their other job is to make sure we h have price stability. they have failed on that front. and they are late to the game. >> brennan: mark strassmann reporting from atlanta. china is wrestling to contain the worst surge of covid in two years. dozens of chinese cities are under some form of lockdown right now. but the city grabbing the

headlines is shanghai. elizabeth palmer reports from tokyo. >> reporter: 25 million people live here, but you would never know it. for going on three weeks, this dynamic metropolis has been shut down. private companies, like alibaba, china's amazon, have been working flat out to feed millions of people who can't go out to shop or even seek medical help. it hasn't gone well. protests have erupted when food has actually run out. anyone who tested positive had to board a special bus and check in to a government isolation facility, including one in shanghai's retrofitted convention center. last week there was desperate pushback when police tried to evict residents from their apartments, slated to be turned into even more isolation centers. you might think all of this would convince the

communist party to change course. well, think again. chinese television reported a few days ago that president xi is doubling down on the so-called dynamic zero covid policy. but the costs are mounting. trucking has slowed dramatically. so has freight moving out of shanghai's busy port, and companies that make everything from cars to iphones are partially or completely closed. public health experts, even inside china, off the record, will say that the current covid policies are unsustainable, but the communist party has staked its reputation on them, and for that reason they're not budging. margaret? >> elizabeth palmer, thank you. we'll be right back. uh carl, are there different planning options in here? options? plans we can build on our own, or with help from a financial consultant? like schwab does. uhhh...

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1946, when harry s. truman canceled it tor a different reason: to call attention to the post world war ii food crisis. this year the united nations predicts the war in ukraine could cost an estimated 1.7 billion people to go hungry. coming up in our next half hour, a conversation with the head of the u.n. world food program about this hunger crisis 76 years later. and prescriptions as low as $4. so you can live a little better each day.

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this is the cbs "overnight news." good evening. thanks so much for joining us on this easter sunday. for many americans, it's been a weekend marked by a return to traditions, but for some, it's been dominated by fear and violence with three mass shootings in two states. more on that in just a moment. but we begin with the battle for ukraine. tonight, russian officials are warning that ukraine's latest fighters in the southern port city of mariupol will be "eliminated" after failing to surrender. the city has been bombarded for weeks now. civilian deaths there are estimated to be in the thousands. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy says the situation in mariupol is, in his words," as